Indigenous youth make their health-care needs known

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This article was published 26/02/2024 (649 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A group of Indigenous youth in Manitoba is calling on the health-care system to hire more Indigenous staff, require mandatory cultural education and reduce barriers for young people trying to access medical care.

The recommendations are included in a new report, released Monday as part of the Our Care Project — a national effort bringing together professionals and members of the public to discuss health-care system improvements. The report, titled “Health Services Should Care for us Auntie style,” is based on a one-day roundtable discussion involving 26 Indigenous youth between the ages of 19 and 29.

The youth spoke about facing or fearing systemic discrimination in the health system, to the point that they delay seeking treatment unless or until it’s an emergency. They want the health system to be trauma-informed, to be compassionate, to hold staff accountable for racism or discrimination, and to eliminate barriers large and small, right down to replacing Manitoba’s flimsy paper provincial health card with a plastic one.

“The young people have, unfortunately, already experienced such a lack of care in their primary care that there is, in some cases, an expectation that they will be mistreated when they go into the health-care system,” said Michael Redhead Champagne, who was a facilitator for the Indigenous youth roundtable discussion.

“So if we take more of that kinship, ‘auntie’ approach, what that would do would be a little bit more trauma-informed and it would be more sensitive to the fact these medical environments have previously caused harm to these children and their families.”

Champagne said he was struck by how clearly and powerfully the youth voiced their concerns.

“The youth have now put the ball back in the court of Manitoba’s health leaders,” he said.

On Monday, Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara was asked to respond to the Indigenous youth’s recommendatons. The minister said they are looking forward to fully reviewing the report, and thanked the roundtable of young people for their engagement and their contributions.

“What the youth have brought forward is very much on the same page as what our government wants to see,” Asagwara said. The minister said some of the concerns, including expanding access to health-care services and reducing barriers to that access, are in line with feedback they’ve heard from meeting with Indigenous organizations.

The government will continue to work with Indigenous organizations and health-care providers, Asagwara said, and wants youth to know their voices are being heard.

The minister said they are working on modernizing Manitoba’s health-card system and have heard the calls for a more durable plastic health card.

When it comes to hiring more Indigenous health-care staff, incorporating Indigenous knowledge and requiring First-Nations, Inuit, and Métis cultural education for all health-care workers, Asagwara said those recommendations are “exactly aligned” with the provincial government’s priorities.

“When I hear the youth saying they want more representation in our health-care system, that is exactly aligned with what our government’s approach to health care is, making sure that no matter who you are … that you see yourself reflected in the health-care workforce, and that you can trust that you’re going to be able to (get) care that’s culturally informed and appropriate and meets your needs.”

katie.may@freepress.mb.ca